Survivors of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa are launching a legal case to overturn an apartheid-era indemnity law that has shielded police from prosecution over the killings. The action, being announced on Thursday, is being brought by people such as 86-year-old Abraham Mofokeng, who still carries a bullet in his spine from the day police opened fire on a peaceful protest against the racist pass laws. It matters because, despite the end of apartheid in 1994 and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, survivors say they have never received justice, and no perpetrator has ever been prosecuted.

On 21 March 1960, thousands gathered in Sharpeville to protest against "dompas" passbooks that restricted the movement of black South Africans, when police opened fire, killing at least 69 people and injuring more than 200; recent research suggests the death toll may have been as high as 91. A memorial park now stands in the township featuring 69 white pillars for the officially recorded victims, though Sharpeville itself remains impoverished, with crumbling infrastructure and unmet promises of redress. Survivors including Mofokeng and 90-year-old Larazus Magotsi, who witnessed the shootings, are seeking accountability decades on through the courts.